maxwell48098

If you think model kits are expensive now, just wait until inflation, soaring oil costs, and skyrocketing transportation kick in. 2020 prices will be the "good ole days". A.J.

The chain is metal and just put loose in the bag. Personally, I've never used the Monogram chain. If you have a Hobby Lobby or Michael's nearby, the both have a selection of chains used in jewelry making. I've probably got three or four different sizes that I use on my truck models. A.J.

One thing everyone is over looking is the increase in oil prices since January. Remember when you bought gas for $1.87 this past January, and now it's $3.39? Yep 181% price increase. Plastic is based off oil, so expect ALL plastic kits prices to once again take a big leap. And that increase in oil prices affects shipping and transportation costs as well, which are jumping way up as well. A.J.

Actually used that technique waaaaay back then on coloring Easter eggs, as well as on models. PLA enamel was what we used back then. A.J.

To prevent the bleed through, you can also use clear if you are short of the original base color. A.J.

60 years ago I was blowing them up with M-80's. Today, I hang onto them in my display cases.

Most electric cars have to have torque limiting software incorporated into their electronics, otherwise you break the tires loose from a dead stop unless you feather the throttle like you're driving on ice. Even back in the '90's when I worked for Chrysler, we had the TE-Van, and I got to drive several of them. With the diagnostic scan tool hooked up, you could disable the torque limiting software and make the front tires smoke like you were doing a burnout at the strip. The difference was, it was in a parking lot and the surface was bone dry! Despite their with, the TE-Vans could really haul, but that would kill the battery life. ?

Interesting that Round2 has a disclaimer in the instructions for the turbine kit that they don't know which kits it would fit. The sprue with the exhaust parts included the crossmember, exhaust stack bracket, battery boxes and mounts, along with ethe auto trans shift tower and shifter for the GMC Astro. In the original instructions, the turbine engine assembly was actually step 1 with the Detroit diesel the next option.

Just think how many more Astros that they would have sold just for the turbine engine. I bought several of the original T510 GMC Astro kits that included the turbine as an optional engine in the kit back in 1971, and still have one! I actually spoke with a Round2 rep at the Warren MI toy show several years back and showed him how the original turbine was on it's own sprues, so if they could find that tool, they could reissue the turbine either with the Astro or as a stand alone kit. At the time, the rep didn't know about the turbine engine option in the original Astro. Maybe it was still part of the original tool, but it had been blocked off so it never got reproduced until now. I might just build one as a stand alone engine for display.

Would have been nice to throw in the turbine engine in this one.

The torque alone put out by electric motors can't be touched by ICE powered vehicles. Most EV's have torque limiting software so that you don't sit there and spin the tires when you takeoff at anything other than light throttle from a stop. EV's will have a hard time taking hold in developing and third world countries for at least another 50 years or longer, so auto companies who say that they are going to completely stop producing ICE powered vehicles within the next 15 years have decided those markets are not worth supporting, except for used vehiclesbrought in from outside.

Interesting that year in and year out, the top selling vehicle in America is the standard Ford F-series pickups, but other than the 2017 Raptor snap model kit, no model company has issued a current model year, full detail kit of any Ford / GM/ Ram pickup. In 2020, the Ford F-series was the #1 selling vehicle in the US, with the Chevy Silverado pickup #2, and the Ram pickup #3! In 2021 so far the Ford F-series #1, Ram #2,and Silverado #3. Where are the kits?

I worked in a full line Ford car and truck dealer in the '60's. There was no physical exterior difference between the 240 CID and 300 CID engines. 300 CID engine was exclsuive to trucks and went in everything from half ton pickups to medium duty trucks. Basically, the 240 is just a destroked 300. They were noted for their torque at lower RPMs, which is why it was a staple of the Ford truck lineup until 1996. The 240 entered production way back in 1963, and emission controls did away with it in 1977. One of the technicians at the dealership had a full sized 1960 Ford 2 dr ranch wagon that he'd swapped out the 240 and replaced it was a 300 around 1967. He also installed 3 Weber sidedraft carbs and a 4 speed from an F250, and built his own header setup. The rear axle gear was changed to 4.88: 1 ratio, and in the city where we worked, you couldn't touch it in stoplight to stoplight drag races.

Amazing that they completely re-tooled that IH highway tractor, and improved upon the original kits as well Thank You Round 2! A.J.

Mailman has come and gone today, and still no magazine. A.J,

Ed, I had a job with Chrysler Corp back in the early '80's where I went to five C/P/D dealers in the Detroit area that accounted for 1% of vehicle sales, and 1% of warranty volume nationally to monitor the quality and durability of products at the dealership level. Colonial Dodge was one of those five dealerships. The picture above is the original dealership, but by the time I called on them, the showroom had moved across the street to a modern facility built around 1972 when the RV business was going gang busters. Behind the new showroom and business offices, they'd built a huge 26 stall RV and truck service center that had been converted into their body shop in 1979. The dealer principal, and the service and parts folks were great people to work with. A.J.

As a little background, I was a Scale Auto (Enthusiast) subscriber from Issue #2 until its end, and was a Fine Scale subscriber starting with issue #1, but dropped my subscription in 1990 went it went all military, naval, and aerospace modelling for which I had no interest. I get several construction and engineering trade journals. There were 9 magazine produced by 3 publishing companies. One of the things two of the trade publishers did about 4 or 5 years ago was to combine several of their magazines into one, but they then changed the title of the remaining publication into one that included both of the prior separate publications. Then inside the publication that had separate inside covers and specific sections for each of the two combined publications. While each publication on its own had between 50-70 pages, the combined new publication now runs 60-70 pages, or roughly a 50% reduction in the former combined total. They kept most of the normal columnists and split editorial direction between the two halves. So each of their subscribers was able to receive and read the material that they enjoyed, but on a smaller scale, while also being exposed to related business and trade news. It is interesting that Scale Auto was older than Fine Scale, but SA was sacrificed. FSM now limits automotive content, much less trucks, to one article, usually in the back. The Fine Scale editors have no interest in automotive subjects as their columns about the models and kits that they own and build are military or aircraft based. The result is that automotive content no longer justifies the price of the magazine or a subscription, and Kalmbach seems to have accepted their decline in readership and subscriptions. Interesting my LHS usually got 25 copies of SA and FSM to sell off the rack. The SA always sold out, but FSM issues languished for 6 months or more. Interestingly, Kalmbach's lead publication today is Model Railroader which was started by Al Kalmbach in the summer of 1933 with the January ,1934 issue. It has been published monthly ever since. Every editor, and columnist at Model Railroader has been a greatly devoted, dyed in the wool model railroader. They demonstrated a psssion for the hobby first, and publishing second, and it showed. And despite having published other train related magazines, Kalmbach never sullied Model Railroader by combining it with any of their other railroad titles. I guess there must be more model train enthusiasts that modelers, but the passion of the editorial staff is just as critical. Thanks for reading my rant. A.J.

All model kits are 40% off starting 4/5.

My K&S tubing cutter is 35 tears old and still going strong. It's never let me down. A.J.

Interesting that the turbine engine in the original Astro 95 kit that I built was molded in white just like the rest of the kit, and not green as they are doing here. Back at a toy show in Warren MI a few years back, I asked a Round2 rep about the turbine engine tooling from the original Astro 95 kit. I mentioned to the guy I was speaking to that the entire engine and trans were on their own tree and could be released as a stand alone accessory kit or added back into the Astro 95. The rep said he wasn't aware that the turbine engine had been molded in it's own tree, but he said that they'd definitely look into it and thanked me for the info. When I asked, he also mentioned that Round2 had the International S-series truck tooling in their inventory, but not a licensing agreement from Navistar So talking to these guys at hobby shows is always a good thing. A.J.

I bought two. My local hobby shop sold out of his initial order of 24 in five days. He's ordered another dozen right away and is waiting for it to still be filled. A.J.

Hobby Lobby has all boxed model kits on sale at 40% through Saturday, March 13.

Unlike the previous 35 year DVD, the recent 5 year update IS NOT searchable. You have to scroll through each issue. A.J.

I also took the ladder from the Delahaye kit and mounted it on a 1959 Mack B71 chassis to replicate an aerial ladder truck from the Chicago fire department. A.J.

Here is one that I did back in '90's and still have today. A.J.